In 2012, quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Lions took a definite step backward from their playoff appearance after the 2011 regular season.

Report cards will be handed out today. For the 49ers, Ravens and those who play Carnac the Magnificent before the NFL season starts with bold predictions that are more prayer than prophet.

Most of my grades are in and, well, Mom and Dad would not be too pleased. But there's one big carrot left, and if I can pull out an A, things won't look as bad as they appear.

So here are the results from my preseason NFL predictions, with one incomplete that will be finished in a few hours.

Prediction No. 1: The 49ers will win the Super Bowl.

Result: It's not official yet, but the 49ers will win 27-21.

Comment: Why the 49ers? Pretty simple. I thought they easily had the best talent from top to bottom of any roster in the NFL and they had a coach in Jim Harbaugh who wouldn't mess it up. How this team went 0-1-1 against the Rams this season is a Loch Ness Monster kind of mystery. Many saw it, but still don't believe.

For the nonbelievers, the biggest concern about the Niners heading into the season was quarterback Alex Smith, which led to ?

Result: Smith was the NFL's top-rated passer through 10 weeks. But then he suffered a concussion on Nov. 11 against the Rams (a game in which he completed 18 of 19 passes), and then in came Colin Kaepernick, and then Kaepernick played really well, then Niners coach Jim Harbaugh said Kaepernick was his starter, and then Kaepernick led his team to the Super Bowl, and Smith went from would-be Pro Bowler to road kill.

Comment: Based on what I've seen and heard from Smith since all this went down, he's taking this much better than me.

Prediction No. 3: The Pittsburgh Steelers will be the most disappointing team in the NFL this season - they won't win 10 games - and the Buffalo Bills will be (last) year's Lions, making the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons.

Result: The Steelers were undoubtedly disappointing, finishing 8-8 and missing the playoffs. As for those Bills, they finished 6-10 and missed the playoffs for the 13th straight season. They did play like the Lions, but the 2012 version and not the 2011 edition.

Comment: Making two predictions in one is clearly too much to handle.

Prediction No. 4: The Kansas City Chiefs will win the AFC West.

Result: Kansas City was dead last in the AFC West and tied for the worst record in the NFL at 2-14.

Comment: Thank you, Chiefs, for clutching up. Without the effort, dedication, attention to detail and the ability to give 110 percent in every game you played this season, you might have gone 1-15. Perhaps if ownership would have gassed coach Romeo Crennel after Week 1, things could have turned out better for the both of us.

Prediction No. 5: A horrible call by the replacement referees will cost at least one NFL team a spot in the playoffs.

Result: There were so many horrible calls that affected so many teams, it's really hard to say. Though we all know The Inaccurate Reception cost the Packers the No. 2 seed in the NFC, which instead went to San Francisco.

Comment: As a thank you to NFL fans everywhere, all replacement refs should volunteer to spend an hour on the dunk tank at the July 4 festival closest to them.

Prediction No. 6: The Packers will not win the NFC North.

Result: The Packers won the NFC North.

Comment: The Bears were looking good at 7-1 and then 8-3, but at that point Lovie Smith decided he didn't want to be a head coach in Chicago anymore and drove his troops right into a sinkhole, which left the Bears out of the playoffs and Smith without a head-coaching job. The lesson here? You can never, ever trust a man named Lovie.

Prediction No. 7: The New Orleans Saints will not miss their offensive-minded head coach Sean Payton and, despite their losses on defense, will qualify for the NFL playoffs.

Result: Well, the Saints finished with the No. 2 offense in the NFL and scored the third-most points. But, this is where commas can get you in trouble. Those losses on defense led to the Saints giving up 7,042 yards this season, the most in NFL history. That led to a 7-9 record and no playoff berth.

Comment: Being half right is better than not being right at all. But being half wrong stinks.

Result: Manning, after sitting out all of 2011 with a neck injury, led the Denver Broncos to the AFC West title with a 13-3 record, the No. 2 seed in the AFC, was a contender for NFL MVP and saw his Broncos eliminated in their first playoff game by Baltimore, marking his eighth one-and-done playoff performance.

Comment: I do love his consistency.

Prediction No. 9: Of the five rookies expected to start at quarterback in Week 1, only Seattle's Russell Wilson will lead his team to the playoffs. Wilson will also have better numbers than one of the top two picks, Robert Griffin III or Andrew Luck.

Result: Wilson did his lead his team to the playoffs (yay), but so did Griffin III and Luck (boos). But other than total passing yards, Wilson had better numbers than Luck across the board.

Comment: With Wilson, Luck and, hopefully, a healthy Griffin III, along with Kaepernick, Cam Newton, Ryan Tannehill and a few others, the NFL's most important and publicized position appears to be in good hands for years to come.

Prediction No. 10: A year after making the NFL playoffs for the first time in 12 years, the Lions will miss the playoffs.

Result: The Lions finished 4-12 and missed the playoffs.

Comment: First, I need to thank coach Jim Schwartz. Jim, we couldn't have done this without you. And I must say, this was the best cast and crew to work with. Like ever. From that favorite pimple on my behind that is Ndamukong Suh to Matty "Pick-a-Minute" Stafford (music comes up) to all those fatties on the offensive line who couldn't block a sneeze and, before I get cut off here ?.